Herman fietsch



(No Model.)

H. FIETSGH, Jr.

BLOCK POR LOCKING STEREOTYPB PLATES FOR PRINTING. No. 388,082. Patented Aug. 21, 1888.

N PEYERS. Phuwumngnpnor. wxshingum. D. c.

Nrrnn STATES Partnr Ottica.

HERMAN FIETSCH, JR., OF CHICAGO, ILLNOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF TO DANIEL V. RYAN, OF SAME PLACE.

BLOCK FOR LOCKING STEREOTYPE=PLATES FOR PRlNTlNG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 388,032, dated August 21, 1888.

Application filed November 1l, 1887. Serial No. 254,883.

To all whoml it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN FIETscH, J r., of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 5 in Blocks for Locking StereotypePlates for Printing, of which the following isa specification.

The object of the improvement is to furnish a base or block for stereotype-plates, on which .xo one or more of such plates may readily be secured for printing therefrom, the means for securing the plate to the block being adapted to fasten aplate of any ordinary size, less than the area of the block, in any desired place thereon, or to fasten several plates of the same size in different places thereon and adjust the spaces between them as required to produce the desired page-margins in bookprinting.

The invention consists, broadly, in a base or block having narrow sections of its upper surface made relatively movable and provided with pin-holes arranged in check or cross rows, so that by placing pins in such of the holes as come nearest to the edges of a plate or platesplaced on the block such pins by a slight sliding of some of the sections may be made to impinge the edges of the plate or plates to hold them in proper place on the block.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan or top view of such block. Fig. 2 is a fragment of an enlarged plan. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of a portion of the 3 5 frame employed to support the sections. Fig.

t is a vertical section on line a: :v of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on line a m of Fig. 1. Fig. (i shows a detail.

A designates a chase or frame for supportno ing the movable sections B. In the present instance the movable sections are provided with tenons b, which work in mortisesct in the frame A, so as to allow a short endwise movement of the sections in either direction. At

one end the tenons are provided with a ratchet,

b', adapted to engage with a ratchet-bar, b2,

set in the frame in a slot to one side of the mortise and actuated by a spring, s. The

frame is also provided with a small disk a',

5o which has a cam, 0,2, coming against the bar (No model.)

b2, so that by a partial rotation of the disk by means of a key inserted in a square or angular opening, as, the cam may be brought to bear hard against the ratchet-bar, as seen at a4, and cause it to move into contact with the ratchet on the tcnon and therebylock the section rigidly in place. in this manner each of the sections may be shifted longitudinally and secured in its various positions. When the cam is released,the spring throws the ratchet- 6o bar back out of engagement with the tenon.

It will be seen that the tenons, as illustrated, are formed by letting a bar, Z1, into a groove in the side of the sections and securing it therein by screws c. This, however, is merely an incidental construction,and is not to be regarded as substantially different from an integral tenon or the untenoned end of the sec tion inserted in a slot or mortisc of sufiicient size to receive it.

The dotted line d indicates the space inside the frame allowed for the endwise movement of the sections. The upper face of the sections is provided with a series of holes, c, so arranged as to form check or cross rows preferably about one-sixth of an inch apart. The surface is otherwise smooth orlevel,so as to form the base on which the electrotype or stereotype plate C, with a ilat undersurface, may rest. The plates are secured to such base by pins c2, received in such of the holes c as come nearest to the edges of the plate, and projecting above the surface of the base, so as to impinge said edges and be tightened in place by the longitudinal adjustment and locking of the sections in place when the pins are pressed against the edges of the plates sufficiently to bind the part-s together.

The mode of operation is illustrated in Fig. 1, which shows the second and fourth sections from the left-hand upper corner slightly moved endwise toward the left, bringing the pins c2 thereof against the upper and righthand edges of the plate, while the pins of the third and fifth sections impinge the lower and left-hand edges. It is obvious that said plate C, or one of a different size, could be secured in the same manner to any other part of the face of the block, or that a series of such plates of equal size could be thus secured to the base, 10o

so that the edges of their ends and sides would be in line and the spaces between them would be equal, so as to make uniform margins in bookpages printed therefrom.

Having thus described my invention and its mode of operation, WhatI claim is- 1. A base or block for stereotype or electrotype plates, having its upper surface composed of a series of separate sections made relatively movable and provided with pin-holes arranged in cheek or cross rows, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. A base or block for stereotype or electrotype plates, composed of a series of separate relatively-movable sections provided With pinholes, a frame for supporting such sections, and means, substantially as described, for locking the sections respectively in their various positions, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

HERMAN FIETSGH, JR.

W'itnesses:

JN0. H. WHIPPLE, J. W. MERRIAM. 

